PC: "I'm a PC." . . . Mac: "You might want to get that fixed."

Windows Mobile 6.5 is fast following in the footsteps of Vista, the deal-killer.

Windows 7 for the desktop may fare better, but it's unlikely to pull Microsoft's nose above the horizon for more than a single quarter, if that. (Merry Christmas, MS, but beware the chill that follows.)

These days, the reasons for sticking with Windows look more like excuses, thin and flimsy, and the reasons for not doing so are already powerful, on their way to becoming irrefutable.

This situation isn't going to turn around, ever; it's only going to become more so. That's because Microsoft is too much like GM, and Chrysler before it, too set in its ways and lacking in imagination, too accustomed to easy money and market clout and too unaccustomed to real competition based on value. By the time Microsoft gets a grip, its market share will have dwindled to less than 20%, perhaps even single digits.

Think that can't happen? Consider what an agreement between HP and Dell to push Linux would do to shift the market. What if you had to pay $50 extra to have Windows installed on a new machine in place of Linux, would you do it? How about another $150 to get Microsoft Office in place of Star Office or OpenOffice.org, or any of a dozen other alternatives, would you ante up?

Sure, some people aren't put off by the need to put out extra money for first-rate software, but most of them are already using Macs.